Viral
by SpookyClaire
Summary: A video goes on the internet of a certain ex-Warbler and he's not going to react well to it. Good thing he's got friends to support him. Blangst.


**Viral**: a video goes on the internet of a certain ex-Warbler and he's not going to react well to it. Good thing he's got friends to support him.

00

Puck was the first one to see it.

He'd never admit to the panic coursing through him he bolted down the hallway in search of a certain Jewish blogger. "JEWFRO." He barked as the teen came into sight, Jacob barely had time to turn around before Puck had him pinned to the lockers. "Take it down, take it down right now!"

"What are you talking about?" Jacob cried, but from the way his eyes darted back and forth Puck knew he was lying.

"You _know_ what I'm talking about!" Puck snarled, slamming him against the lockers for emphasis. "Take it down right fucking now!"

"I can't!"

"Yes you can! You're going to do it NOW, Israel!" Puck pulled his fist back for emphasis, seriously considering actually throwing punches.

"I didn't post it, ok!" Jacob screeched, pulling his hands up to shield his face.

"What?" Puck growled, his face inches from Jacob's now, fist lowered.

"I—I didn't post it. I got hacked. Someone hacked my blog last night and posted it. By the time I got on this morning it had already gone viral. I tried to delete it but it wouldn't even matter at this point. It's all over the internet."

"Are you lying to me right now?" Puck was pretty sure he was snorting like a bull but he didn't really care at the moment.

"No I swear!" Jacob's voice cracked at the cry, "I swear, I've been trying to delete it all morning! Whoever hacked in was good – I-I can't get it down! But I'm trying, I swear!"

Puck had to take a calming breath as his fists shook. "Fuck!" He screamed, slamming Jacob into the lockers one last time as he let go. He ran a hand through his mohawk before pointing an accusing finger at in the blogger's face. "You figure out who fucking posted it, you hear me Israel? Because if I don't have someone to blame for this it's going to be you." Jacob nodded like a bobble head before running off in the direction of the library.

Puck's fists really were shaking at this point. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" He whispered to himself as he whipped out his cell phone. "Mike, it's Puck. I need to tell you something. We have to do some damage control real quick. Meet me in choir room in two minutes, and call Finn too."

00

"What are you talking about?" Finn asked for the millionth time, Mike held a similar look of confusion but he'd stopped asking. Puck quickly ushered the two of them into the choir room and shut the door behind them. He motioned for them to sit down as he pulled his laptop out of his backpack.

"Ok, guys, something happened."

"Obviously." Mike said, despite the nervous look on his face.

"It's only fourth period, what could have happened?" Finn asked, watching closely as Puck as he started typing on his laptop, clicking a few times.

"Ok, got it." Puck mumbled, turning to his two friends. "Ok…what I'm about to show you is totally fucked up and you may need to vomit afterwards."

"It's not two girls one cup again, is it?" Finn asked, making a face of disgust.

Puck didn't even smile, he just shook his head. "I…it's worse. But just…you need to see this." He turned the laptop towards them and hit play on the video on the scene.

Finn and Mike watched what looked like the feed from a parking lot security camera. "What…" Finn started but stopped as someone came on screen. Two boys. The picture was dark, but they could make out the scene clearly. Both boys were dressed nicely, one had a mass of curls on top of his head and the other had a crew-cut. The audio was very quiet but Finn and Mike could hear the two laughing brightly. They watched as they tentatively took each other's hand. They stopped talking and just smiled at each other, and Finn and Mike found themselves actually smiling at the two, young, awkward looking teens.

But then four other figures came on screen. They were much bigger, very much so reminding them of the McKinley hockey team, and they were heading right towards the two young boys. Finn and Mike couldn't make out exactly what was being said, but their tones were hostile. Whatever the boys said in response was said quietly, meekly, as they both held up their hands in defense. The boy with the big mass of curls let his head hang, but the boy with the crew-cut said something back, looking angry.

That was when the first punch was thrown.

The boy with the curls went crashing to the ground, the crew-cut kid falling quickly after from a hit in his direction. The hockey players kicked crew-cut boy, before kicking the boy with the curls. Crew-cut boy took the chance and ran, one of the attackers made a move to go after him but was stopped by the others. All their attention was on the boy with the curls now. They kicked and kicked and kicked, and Finn and Mike could hardly breathe and then they heard a loud scream echoing through the speakers, despite how quiet the audio was. It was a plea, a beg. _"Stop, STOP! STOP IT, PLEASE!"_

Mike let out a cry as a particularly hard kick connected with the boy's head and he went limp. The dancer quickly looked away, actually burying his face in Finn's shoulder like he was watching a horror film. Finn still watched, white faced, horrified.

The boys on the screen all stopped suddenly, spooked by something, before running off in the opposite direction crew-cut boy had run in before. Soon an older man, probably a teacher, was bolting onto the screen, the crew-cut boy hot on his heels. The teacher fell to his knees next to curly hair boy's still form.

And then the video stopped.

"Why did you show us that?" Finn whispered, as Mike, who had turned back to the screen, couldn't even speak. He looked almost sick

"Was…was that real?"

Puck nodded, an unreadable look of rage on his face as he reached down, scrolling down the screen so the video was half out of view. Large text was visible under it:

LOOK AT LITTLE RICH BOY BLAINE ANDERSON GET WHAT'S COMING TO HIM. NOT SO COCKY NOW, ARE YOU FAGGOT?

"Anderson?" Mike whispered, horrified, face pale.

"That was…that kid was Blaine?" Puck just nodded again, hands shaking slightly as he slammed the laptop shut. "What—who posted that? Israel?"

Puck shook his head, "He said he got hacked. He's been trying to remove it all morning…but he said it doesn't matter. It's already gone viral." Puck's voice was eerily quiet, that was worrying in of itself.

"Oh my God—does-does Kurt-?"

"Not that I'm aware of, I wanted to get you guys before we rounded up the others." Mike and Finn nodded, standing now.

"I'll find Kurt," Finn said, "You guys find the others and bring them here." Puck and Mike nodded, thanking every God out there for the fact Blaine was absent today.

There had never been a better day for the teen to be home sick.

00

They didn't want to show them the video, they couldn't. They couldn't bear to think of showing the girls such a video. They couldn't even fathom showing it to Kurt. Who would want to see the person they love in such a position?

But Kurt demanded.

"I don't want anyone else seeing it." He said, voice very grave as he looked at the group of friends before him. "But I want to see it."

"Kurt-" Finn started, but Kurt cut him off with a look.

"Give me your laptop now, Puck, or I'll go to the library and watch it myself." Puck reluctantly handed the machine over. Kurt went off to the dark storage room connected to the choir room and shut the door. The room was silent for a long moment.

"Was it really that bad?" Rachel whispered, eyes wide at the idea of Blaine getting hurt so badly, let alone having a _video_ of it being shown all over the internet. Did these people have no shame?

The three males who had seen the video nodded, faces dark. "They just…kept hitting him." Finn said, without a better explanation. Rachel's eyes welled up a little but she just nodded.

The group sat in silence for several more minutes before the door to the storage room opened. Kurt walked out, laptop under his arm. His face was pale, eyes bright read, and face soaked with tears. Without a word he handed the computer back to Puck. Mercedes walked up to her friend and wrapped him tight in a hug.

"He's ok now, sweetie." She whispered. Kurt sniffled loudly and just nodded.

Stepping back from her he quietly said, "I'm going to Blaine's house." He turned to the others, "I don't think he'd go on Jacob's blog but if it's already over the internet I don't want him seeing it…at least not without a warning."

"I'll go with you." Rachel said immediately. The other girls all stepped up too. Almost instantaneously everyone had come to the consensus that they would be joining Kurt. "You guys don't have to come-"

"We want to."

Kurt just nodded, and without a word they all left.

00

"Jesus Christ, Kurt, your boy is loaded!" Artie called, lightening the mood slightly. The kids of the two glee clubs pulled up in three separate cars, parking on the large street. They all piled out and headed to the large double doors on the front of the three-story house.

Kurt rang the familiar doorbell, waiting patiently for a response. They all stood there for longer than expected. "Dude, you sure he's not faking and off drinking somewhere?" Puck asked as he leaned forward and hit the bell again.

"Yes. Puck. Because Blaine seems exactly like that kind of person." There was finally a sound from inside and soon the door was being wrenched opened.

There before them stood not one of Blaine's parents, but Blaine himself. He was wearing a too-large gray hoodie (which read Hummel's Tire and Lube across the front, they noticed) and baggy flannel pajama pants. His hair was un-gelled and _everywhere_(it looked eerily like the way his hair looked in the video, the ones who had seen it couldn't help but shudder at the idea). His face was pale, practically pure white. His eyes were red and glassy behind his thick framed glasses, and his sniffled as he stood before them.

His eyes widened as he took them all in. "Woah, guys, what are you all doing here? Why aren't you at school?" Blaine's voice was rough, he clearly wasn't feeling the greatest.

"We wanted to visit." Kurt said, forcing a smile. "Can we come in, sweetie?" Blaine looked confused but nodded, stepping out of the way.

"Yeah, come-" Blaine paused to cough roughly, Santana jumped out of the way as he did so. He quickly turned to the side, continuing to hack away. Kurt stepped to him and rubbed his back until he finished. Clearing his throat he finished, "Come in." His voice was even rougher than before.

"Sick, Anderson." Santana said, not hiding her disgust.

"Yes. I am." Blaine said, clearing his throat again. Kurt shut the door once everyone was inside. Blaine gestured towards a large door-less doorway. "You can go in the living room, just let me clean up." Blaine scurried into the living room before them, quickly gathering up some empty Gatorade bottles and used tissues into the garbage can near the couch.

The first thing the kids noticed as they walked in was a family portrait above the large fire place on the far wall. That was the only picture anyone had seen so far, and it seemed stiff. It was just Blaine and two very proper looking parents. Blaine looked much like he did at school, hair slicked back, a button up shirt on. But the look on his face wasn't a happy one. In fact, his smile was very obviously forced. But at least he was smiling, neither of his parents were.

"Where're your parents?" Brittany asked, before anyone could stop her.

"Uh…_hem_. They're not home." Blaine croaked out, as he grabbed a used water glass and carried the items he was holding off into a different room. As he did this the other kids looked around the living room some more, trying hard not to think hard about where Blaine's parents were or when the last time they had been home was. The room was large, vast. There were two different couches, a love seat, two different arm chairs, a large screen TV (which was currently paused on _Star Wars_), as well as large book shelves that lined the walls.

"Jesus Christ," several of the kids found themselves saying at the clearly well off family's home. Blaine returned, gesturing for them to sit. He fell beside Kurt on the loveseat in a huff, winded from the small amount of movement he had done. Blaine leaned into Kurt as the boy wrapped an arm lovingly around him and played with his hair.

"I'd offer you guys drinks or something but I don't want to get up." Blaine mumbled into Kurt's chest, eyes closed.

"It's fine, we're good." Finn said for the group, who all nodded. They sat for a moment before Blaine spoke again.

"Oh yeah, wait, what are you doing here?" Blaine asked, opening his eyes. A few of them chuckled slightly at the boy's muddled brain. But their laughter quickly left them as they remembered why they were there.

"Blaine." Kurt said, nudging him slightly. Once Blaine was sitting up, Kurt looked at him very seriously "Blaine, I need to talk to you about something really serious."

Blaine blinked, sobering up. "What? About what? Is everyone ok? Is it your dad?"

Kurt quickly shook his head, "No…not my dad…listen, do you want to talk in the kitchen?"

Blaine's eyes went from Kurt to their group of friends to back to Kurt. "I…I don't know. Is it that serious?" Kurt nodded gravely, telling Blaine something silently. Blaine's eyes widened and he nodded himself. "Ok, uh, yeah. Let's go in the kitchen."

"We'll be right back." Kurt said quietly to his friends before the two of them disappeared through the doorway Blaine had gone through before.

The remaining gleeks glanced at each other awkwardly.

"And now we wait." Santana mumbled.

00

"Sit down before you fall down, Blaine." Kurt said quietly, leading Blaine to one of the heavy oak chairs surrounding the large kitchen table.

"What's going on, Kurt?" Blaine said after swallowing a cough, "What couldn't you talk to me about in front of the others? And why are you all here? Did something happen at school?"

Kurt sat down beside Blaine in one of the chairs and took his hand. "Something….happened…sort of. Well, something big got put on the internet this morning. And the whole school saw it." Kurt swallowed hard, tear welling up in his eyes. "Oh, Jesus…" he whispered to himself, scrubbing at his eyes with his free hand.

"Kurt, please, don't cry. What is it?" Kurt took a deep breath before glancing back up at his boyfriend, "Kurt?"

"Blaine, this, this is…" Kurt started but couldn't finish.

"What's going on?" Blaine whispered again, breathless. "It can't be this bad?"

"Jacob Ben Israel, the boy with the gossip site?" Kurt started after a moment, ignoring Blaine's words. The other boy nodded at his question, "Someone hacked his site this morning and posted a video…"

Blaine blinked, waiting for some more explanation. "And?"

"It was a video of you."

Blaine froze, what video of him could possibly elicit this kind of reaction? "It's not the Gap Attack, is it?" He asked with a breathless laugh. But from the look on his face he already knew his answer.

"No, Blaine." Kurt whispered, "It's…it's footage from a parking lot camera…from Westerville High." Kurt was speaking slowly, as if trying to be as delicate as possible.

"My—my old high school?" What could have come from there that-

Oh.

"No." Blaine whispered, eyes widening in horror. "Not—not the dance. The police took that footage. It can't be from that, right?"

"Blaine." Kurt whispered, tightening his hold on Blaine's hand, but Blaine suddenly pulled away.

"No. It's not that night. It couldn't be. They took it and said no one would get to see it again."

"Blaine-" Kurt wasn't denying it.

"No." Blaine whispered, standing up and stepping back from Kurt's now empty hand. "It's not that night."

"Blaine, it is." Kurt whispered, not sure what else to say. He couldn't beat around it any longer.

Blaine's mouth hung open, tears welling up in his eyes. "The—it's—" He panted a little, "The whole school saw it." It wasn't a question.

"Blaine…" Kurt whispered, he literally had no words. What was he to say?

"This isn't fair." Blaine whispered, "This…this isn't fair! I—I put that night _behind_ me – I-I got over it!" His voice was high as he yelled, rough and squeaking in his sickness. His words were rushed and panicked. He could feel tears coming and angrily scrubbed at his eyes, enraged by his own weakness. "I went to prom with you! I left Dalton! I_faced_ my fears!" His voice cracked as he yelled, and Kurt wasn't sure if it was from the illness or the crying.

"Honey-" Kurt whispered, his voice broken as tears of his own welled up. He stood and took a step towards Blaine.

"I want to see it." Blaine cut him off, his eyes widening,. "I want to see the video."

"No you don't-"

"I never got to see it. I want to see it."

"Blaine-"

"Damnit, Kurt!" Blaine screamed, causing his boyfriend to jump. "Just let me see it!"

"No, Blaine!" Kurt screamed back, both of them in tears now. Kurt took another step forward and Blaine all but fell into his arms.

"It's not fair," the sick teen sobbed. "I tried to move on. I tried to face all my fears. I tried to be strong for you. Why can't I just move on? Why won't they let me move on?"

"Shhh…it's ok, sugar." Kurt started to soothingly draw circles on Blaine's back and he whispered lovingly in his ear. "You don't need to be strong for me…as long as you're you I'm happy…I don't care what video goes on the internet…you're still my Blaine…"

Blaine sobbed quietly into his shoulder, "The whole school saw it?" He whispered into Kurt. The taller teen merely nodded, and another sob escaped Blaine in response.

"It doesn't matter what they think, Blaine." Kurt whispered.

"I wish it didn't." Blaine whispered back, swallowing hard and controlling his crying. Soon the two were just standing next to the kitchen table, breathing hard and trying not to cry anymore.

"It's not fair." Blaine whispered again, "Now…now everyone's going to know. _Everyone_. God, I'm so…I'm so fucked." Blaine pulled back from Kurt to cough violently into the too-long sleeves of his sweatshirt. "I'm gonna get you sick." He whispered as an afterthought.

"I don't care." Kurt said, taking Blaine by the shoulders and placing a soft kiss on his forehead. "And I said it before, I don't care what video goes on the internet. I will _always_love you. And I'll always be here for you." Blaine smiled softly but said nothing. "And those guys?" Kurt asked, gesturing to the living room, "They'll be there for you too. We're gonna protect you, we won't let anyone bother you."

"Promise?" Blaine whispered, not looking up.

Kurt lightly lifted Blaine's chin so they were looking into each other's eyes. "I promise…I'll take a slushie for you any day." Blaine smiled slightly, before his smile left him and he sniffled, running the sweatshirt sleeve under his nose. "Do you want to go back to the living room?" Blaine just shrugged, so Kurt took his hand and started leading him back the way they came. "C'mon, let's go."

They walked quietly back into surprisingly silent living room, back to the eager eyes of their friends. "So?" Finn asked, glancing back and forth between the two boys.

"Are you ok, Blaine?" Tina asked.

"I…" Blaine paused, sniffling again, "I just want to drink hot chocolate and watch_ Star Wars_."

"We can do that!" Mike said quickly, eager to help in a way he actually could.

"I'll make the hot cocoa!" Rachel cried, standing up.

"I'll help!" Mercedes called, running after her into the kitchen.

"I'll go make sure they don't ruin your kitchen." Artie said, rolling after them.

Blaine couldn't help but smile slightly at his friends. Kurt led him back to the love seat and sat down beside him. "I love you, Blaine." Kurt whispered, stroking Blaine's curly locks again, wrapping him up tight in his arms.

"I love you too, Kurt." He whispered.

And true, he probably wouldn't be ok for a while. He'd have to deal with the kids at school. He'd have to deal with finding out who posted the video. Hell, he may have to deal with the police later if it came to that. But right now? With his friends, some nice hot chocolate, and a Star Wars marathon? He could at least survive the afternoon.

Or at the very least he could sleep through it.


End file.
